Trying a 5-kilometer 'head race'-style event for the first time at Benderson Park

By JUSTINE GRIFFIN

Wednesday

Oct 30, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Nathan Benderson Park officials are preparing to hold the first regatta there since the venue was named the site of the 2017 World Rowing Championships.

The Sarasota-Bradenton Head Race is expected to draw 600 competitors, coaches and family members to Southwest Florida from across the state Nov. 16. The regatta is the first at the lake to be a long-distance "head race"-style event.

"It's an experimental race that we've never tried at the park before," said Paul Blackketter, chief operating officer of the Suncoast Aquatic Nature Center Association, the nonprofit group that operates the park. "It proves that this course is a multipurpose venue and can host all types of races."

A head race differs from the straight, side-by-side sprint races of one to two kilometers (0.6 to 1.25 miles) seen at the park over the years in that the rowers will row five kilometers (3.1 miles) around the lake perimeter.

Rowers will have to turn their long, skinny racing shells around buoys and race through the narrow, slightly winding channel around Regatta Island.

"It's exciting to watch, because competitors have to be able to negotiate around these big buoys as fast as they can," Blackketter said. "They're racing against the clock."

Planting a seed

The introduction of a head race is just another step toward organizing the biggest rowing event outside of the Olympics -- the World Rowing Championships, come 2017.

The region is to prepare to host 42,000 international athletes and supporters over 10 days of competition for the championships, an event expected to pump $13 million in direct spending into the region's economy.

It will be the largest sporting event Southwest Florida has ever held.

Suncoast Aquatic officials still need to raise $15 million to build the championship-caliber facilities needed at Benderson Park, including a boathouse and start and finish towers.

Blackketter hopes to make the Sarasota-Bradenton Head Race an annual event at the park, building on it over the years.

The Head of Charles regatta draws nearly 300,000 people to Boston's Charles River every October. It is the largest head race in the world, with 9,000 athletes and 61 events over two days.

With time, Blackketter said he thinks the Sarasota-Bradenton race could reach that level of success.

"It's a small event this year, but we wanted to make sure to work out the kinks this first time around," he said. "But this event has the potential to be one of the biggest head race events in the country."

Suncoast Aquatic is hoping to find a major sponsor for the event.

"Right now, we're planting the seed and hopefully can come back next year after a successful head race this year," Blackketter said.

A versatile venue

Suncoast Aquatic officials have begun staggering varying levels of sporting events at the park leading up to the 2017 championships.

Benderson Park may host an Olympic-level qualifying event in 2016, which would draw thousands of competitors hoping to make it to Brazil for the Olympic Games in 2018.

The park also is slated to be the site for the 2018 World Rowing Masters Regatta and the Coastal Championships, both internationally sanctioned events.

Next year, the park will be the home of the 2014 International Breast Cancer Paddlers Commission's Dragonboat Festival.

The Sarasota-Bradenton Head Race is free; parking fees are $5 for spectators.

The public also can attend a "learn to row" session the day of the head race.

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